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    INSTITUTION FOR EMPLOYMENT OF NEEDLEWOME...

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  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

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    -*«»- There Has Long Existed In Society ...

    with drive , s the up division in her carriag of labor e to and tlie west the mysteries -end shop and of political gives large economy orders ,

    muneration regardless of to expense the worker , " sur ? " el So y the it would price , if I pay the money admits g of iven a fair in the reexecution of the work

    reached first instance the worker by the direct shop , but keeper this it for rarel the y does ¦! destitution of their

    position The poverty , stand between of needlewomen them and and a more the extreme adequate rate of st the payment .

    So tations very which many needlewomen want laces in are their found path , who , su , un _cciim able b to to resi dishonesty temp and - theffcthat the confidence p of employers has been shaken , and this of

    course , redounds upon the whole class . With the exception of those who are known and have credit , or is not laced

    who can leave a deposit for the material given out , work p middleman directly in the or hands contractor of the has worker arisen herself who , giving but the a securit necessit y y to of the a

    outfitter takes the work wholesale , r , elieving him at once from all anxiety , and from the trouble of coming himself into contact with

    the needlewoman . This monopoly of work , generally vested as it is in the hands of

    the small _sj _^ cap sfcem italist And s and too uneducated oftenalas peop ! avarice le , has and led power to a fearful are to be abuse found of

    . , out driving of - the hard various bargain depths s with of povert destitution y itself which , making compel proportionate the starving gains to

    in give return their . time Keenl and acute labor indeed , however have low som the e of price these offered intermediat _tliem e

    agents proved them y selves , in measuring , out the lowest minimum , of wages So paltry upon which is the , bare ittan life ce can be sustained receive . so inadequate to the

    necessary demands of p existence many , that , knowing , the instability of all virtue which has not for its foundation the principle of a living * faith ,

    need it be matter of astonishment that means of degradation are resorted toin order to secure a few personal comforts , a little

    cessation from labor , with promise of a temporary protection , or oftener to drown the , recollections of the past and the gaunt threatening

    shadows of the future . Under this contract-system many women rise at _foiir in the morning and work till past ten at night for five or

    six shillings a week , making ladies' under-garments , stitched , etc ., at two shillings and sixpence a dozen , shirts for twopence halfpenny

    a iecewith other articles at the same rate of payment . These are no p exaggerated , statements , and yet how apt is the world to take a

    one-sided view alone of the sad position of those who fall away , who , leaves seeing time no escap for bitter e from thoug the slow ht and tortur a frantic e which desire yet of in escape its , progress yield to

    temptations the very shadows of which are excluded from us by the protection of homeparentsand position . Instead of harshly

    judging , should we not , rather wonder , that there are still so many of this

    class left , who , preserving amid their privations the dignity and

    Institution For Employment Of Needlewome...

    INSTITUTION FOR EMPLOYMENT OF NEEDLEWOMEN . 257

• Citation
  • English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), June 1, 1860, page 257, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01061860/page/41/